Austin Air - Healthmate Plus

Years ago I moved into a new construction apartment and the cabinets gave off a resin smell that I assumed contained formaldehyde. I was having terrible allergy symptoms that I suspected was related to this. I bought an Austin air healthmate plus and was shocked at how much it helped. I've had several different HEPA purifiers over the years, and experienced with others with high amounts of activated carbon but Austin is by far the best. Can't say that it's worth the cost for everyone, but in my situation it really was.

I bought the plus filters for my existing machines. I like that you can swap the filter in any of the machines. I sound like I'm shilling for them, it's just a buy one cry once kind of thing and I like that.

I prefer the Austin Air Healthmate Plus. I purchased both, and prefer the Austin.

We have an Austin Air HealthMate PLUS air purifier. It's what people use for air purification from forest fires, as far as I remember when researching it before purchase. It can actually remove VOCs and smells from the air. It's a charcoal/carbon based unit and the filter lasts 5 years before needing to be replaced. Editing to add: definitely do your research on this one to find out what exactly you want from an air filter and don't blindly buy one because someone here likes the one they have! I believe a carbon filter is what you need for fire related issues, but I'm no expert!

We have two health mate, a junior and I just bought a plus. Bedroom machine was new to me when I looked at the website. Btw I've brought the machines and filters through a reseller and it's much cheaper - https://www.airpurifiersandcleaners.com I priced it in a few of them and this was least expensive.

Austin Air is what I use in my home now. I own a. Filtration business, and I've tried about 9 different types in my own home over the past 3 years - this is far and away my favorite. The second best would be the BlueAir systems.

I actually just ordered a second Healthmate Plus. I called Austin and they gave me a $50 off discount code: "RedCross5050"

Austinair healthmate is good.

Austin air. You won't find a better air purifier. They make surgical room purifiers. This is their consumer versions. Even removes Covid from the air.

Austin is a waste of money sadly. I bought it to reduce VOCs, however according to my sensor it loses effectiveness in under a month, then you are on the hook for a new $300 filter. I continued to use my Healthmate Plus for about 8 months as just a HEPA filter and it started to smell like vinegar. Didn't even get a year out of it as a normal filter either. A replacement filter lasted a similar amount of time for VOC effectiveness. The unit itself is quite low quality and expensive for what you get, once you take it apart to do the filter change. Talk about zero investment in improving your product.

1. Step zero or purchasing this product is finding/posting the sq ft of the area served. You have not done so, so you are not ready to buy. 2. View 5 air purifier buyer's guides to gain knowledge. https://www.consumerreports.org/appliances/air-purifiers/buying-guide/ is one and google will find you others. 3. Your root cause is likely NOT dust as that is your assumption. You are best served by visiting a doctor and discussing allergies. 4. You do have a price range as a PM1 unit costs more than your car. 5. Silence is not a factor in any unit that conditions the air as you will either accept it or return it. You cannot ask about this metric online ever as that comes from dB and Hz. Makers may list dB using an unknown distance and unknown dB meter which means literally zero and they never list Hz which is a critical annoyance factor that varies to you...my unit may be whisper quiet to me as I was raised in a sawmill and when you buy it based on my recommendation it sounds like an annoying screech. 6. LEDs are not a metric as zero people know how many/what brightness will annoy you and they can all be solved with pieces of electrical tape. Austin Air is a BIFL brand when you factor in sizing, the 5 year warranty and 5 year filter replacement cycle. Which flavor of them is right for you....dunno as you didn't state the sq ft served.

The loudness mostly and I also have more confidence in the Austin's carbon treatment. The Austin also looks better visually.

I have an Austin Air HEPA filter wired into a Homeseer Z-wave fan controller. Their air purifiers are electrically just simple A/C fans, so the fan controller is able to regulate its speed (4 speeds), and HA is set up to adjust it based on an external air quality sensor.

I also suggest going with an Austin Air. I have two of the Austin Ait Healthmate + models bought in 2019. They work great and are solidly constructed. They are worth the investment to me.

In terms of "is the Austin enough", the iqair fan is 275cfm vs 250 for the Austin, so in terms of volume of air through the filter it's not that different. As particle filters these are terrible value by the way. Both are stupid loud on high, like you need to yell loud if you are near it, so you likely won't run them at that speed anyway. Probably better results with 2 Austin's over 1 iqair. That's just a guess though. If I was you I would buy one Austin, use your monitor to see if it helps. Get a second only if you need it. But ymmv.

We have an Austin Air Systems Healthmate that runs 24/7/365, and has done since 1998. No lie. We only switch it off to change the filter (every five years or so).

The very best one is a PM1 unit. You will have to have a commercial contractor come out and give you a personalized quotation. And once you find out the price, you will likely back off your price doesn't matter bravado as the unit will cost as much as your car. You are not asking a BIFL question, so quit trying to shoehorn it as such. An air purifier is purchased based on sq ft of use and since we don't know if you want a room or whole house done, zero people here can give you advice worth a damn. Austin Air is the hive mind BIFL unit and is a PM 2.5 AKA HEPA unit. A HEPA unit is a HEPA unit, but Austin's killer warranty and filter period puts it in the top spot.

Austin routinely pays out on prorated filter replacement. They generally last between two and three years, and they weigh 15 pounds and are several inches thick. Unlike the filters in the shark, which are about a half an inch thick and weigh about 6 ounces.

../../air-purifier/model/Austin Air Cleaner. A little more than your budget. Phenomenal service. Check out the website. https://austinairsystems.com/?srsltid=AfmBOopJTNH0UqEz3X8EwSesYWb0Q1msSn9rd8Kh-CGMAW8MCK0ep27I

Well, it has to do with media surface area vs. airflow. HVAC filters that are 1" go foul in a couple months in a dusty environment. But the same HVAC, same airflow, and a 6" filter? Yearly replacement. All down to surface area.

Austin Air, Air Oasis are some of the highest quality. I just bought an Air Oasis to sleep next to as I have CIRS

I did, and I also got an Austin Air Healthmate Plus. The AllerAir is very loud. I would recommend the Austin.

I own multiple Austin Air Healthmate Plus air purifiers. They're really expensive but they last a long time and work great on smells and smoke. Highly recommend

Austin Air HM450 has 15 lbs of activated carbon. Is that also not enough to make a dent?

I've recently purchased Coway Airmega 400S as I the air was getting polluted way too frequently due to wildfires in summer. While it was able to reduce PM2.5 drastically, it made no difference to VOCs which my Airthings View Plus consistently detects around 250 ppb. So I purchased Austin Air Healthmate+ HM450 believing the higher carbon content in its filters will be more effective but after I tested it today it is also not making much of a difference. Do other people have similar problem with VOCs and is there a purifier which is better at this? After Austin Air in my mind IQ Air is the one to try but I don't know if I want to spend so much on the purifier. Am I expecting too much from the purifiers? I will try if at some point VOCs are higher (sometimes it's >500 ppb) and in that case if the purifiers make a difference. But it's been frustrating to research and buy multiple purifiers and see them making no difference to VOCs. Any help will be appreciated. Edit: I live in Toronto and my goal is to keep the air in kitchen/dining clean which is around 400 sq ft. However there are no doors separating these areas with the rest of the floor. The entire floor is around 1700 sq ft and the whole house is 3000 sq ft Edit 2: I am also planning to install an ERV. So I am wondering if that's going to make a significant difference and whether I give up trying to fix the VOC levels using purifiers. If anyone has experience with ERVs that will also be much appreciated

IQAir and Austin Air are the go-to "buy it for life" purifiers. They really have long-lasting filters and proven performance on my end

IqAir, Austin, Levoit They are all running right now at home. Visitors often tell me the house smells very clean and pure. I have a Levoit 300 by the front door. Levoit 600 in the living room. Austin on the kitchen counter in the corner by the stove. An IqAir in my master. A Levoit 300 in another bedroom. MPR 300 filters for my HVAC.

I've had my Austin Air for 13 years and the motor is still working like a charm. It's a beast. I use it in the bedroom and the quality of the air in the bedroom is consistently better than the air in the rest of the apartment. Smells better, feels better. This thing collects a ton of dust. The AA comes with two filters, a main heavy cylinder that sits inside the box below the motor (you pick the type you want, I have the HealthMate Plus). The box that houses the motor can hold any of the cylinders so if you decide to upgrade your main filter, you don't have to buy a whole new machine. The second filter is called a "pre-filter" and it's basically a carbon cloth that coats the inside of the box outside of the cylinder. The pre-filters need to be changed every few months and the filter (big heavy cylinder lasts about five years). The pre-filters collect the dust and junk the Austin Air sucks in and protect the heavy cylinder. There are three settings, high, medium and low. I set it to high for an hour after I change the pre-filter to give the air a solid fast clean and use medium while I'm awake. I set it on low for sleeping and it's like white noise...a low soothing sound IMO. Medium is doable during sleep if you wear ear plugs. HealthMate Plus clears odors well, too. The authorized retailers of AA are supposed to give discounts for replacement filters. The pro-rate the cost depending on how long you use it. The longer you have it, the bigger the discount. So be sure to register your product and keep a record of the serial number, purchase date and so on. All this said, I have owned my box for 13 years. Some people who have purchased recently seem to think the quality has gone downhill. I purchased because I liked the fact that is was made in the USA and not in China or some overseas sweatshop. I support the idea of local jobs. However, who knows where they import parts from. I cannot comment on the motor quality currently but the filter standard has not dropped. I've replaced my filter twice. Personally, I can't think why a company would degrade the quality of the motor...

I am torn between the choices of - whether I keep the Coway 400s which is theoretically inferior but is cheaper, better looking and has smart features or I keep the ugly looking but on paper better Austin Air and just trust the fact it's doing some thing to VOCs even when I can't prove it with the air quality monitor